Debert Industrial Park Concept Plan Final Report -2006 55 pages but if you scroll through you will find some interesting FACTS about the aquafiers,groundwater,waterways etc which are stated here to be very sensitive and unprotected I summarized some parts I thought were interesting here--- . . Chapter 1 States - pg 8 (3) Environmental The wetlands, river corridors and the DNR park reserve now form a link to the National Historic Site and the tree nursery lands. This swath of open space through Debert needs to be defined. Environmental limitations can be divided into natural challenges (rivers, wetlands, steep slopes, significant habitat, etc.) and man-made challenges (base remnants like ‘hot spots’, concrete foundations, designated areas, etc.). A good network of trails throughout the area already exist. These should be expanded and improved in the future. The Debert aquifer is a sensitive and critically important resource that must be acknowledged and protected. (5) Geology and Soils What agricultural land remains in production must be protected for future agricultural use. The underlying aquifer is one of the best in the Province. It is close to the surface and performs close to the theoretical model for aquifers. As such, it offers little buffer as protection from contamination due to surface activity on the aquifer. Since water is one of the most important, if not the number one, environmental issue in the world, care must be taken to protect this outstanding resource. No use that offers any risk of contamination should be allowed in the area. pg 9 c. History In Debert there is a complex of three archaeological sites, deemed the Debert Palaeo Indian National Historic Site of Canada by the Government of Canada. These sites provide evidence of the earliest human occupation in eastern Canada dating to between 11,000 and 13,000 calendar years ago. Originally excavated between 1962 and 1967 by the National Museum of Man, the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and the Nova Scotia Museum, the first Debert site is the oldest directly dated site in Canada. More than 5000 stone artifacts have been found amongst the three sites. A development proposal by the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq involves making this important site the centre of Mi’kmaq cultural interpretation and activity in the Maritimes. Their proposal involves construction of a significant cultural centre and interpretative development of the site. d. Geology and Soils The Site all lies between the Debert River and the Chiganois River on low slope Blomidon and Wolfville formations of red sandstone, siltstone, conglomerate and shale. These formations are parent to some of the finest agricultural land in the Province. The soil is fine, dense sand over moderately coarse to moderately fine textured tills. What agricultural land remains in production must be protected for future agricultural use. The underlying aquifer is one of the best in the Province. It is close to the surface and performs close to the theoretical model for aquifers. As such, it offers little buffer as protection from contamination due to surface activity on the aquifer. Since water is one of the most important, if not the number one, environmental issue in the world, care must be taken to protect this outstanding resource. No use that offers any risk of contamination should be allowed in the area. e. Vegetation Much of the area was cleared during the second world war. Reforestation in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s provided stands of white pine, paper birch, fir, red spruce, hemlock and poplar. A Provincial tree breeding nursery occupies the north eastern portion of the area along with the blueberry research farm. The Greenway buffer and proposed Mi’kmawey Debert area bisects the site in a north south orientation and separates the highway related industrial-commercial Core from the airport-rail related industrial areas. The exact boundary of the greenway and Mikamawey Debert area, and the management relationship between the Mi’kmawey Debert site and the Debert industrial sites is yet to be determined. Chapter 3 Sensitive aquifers and watersheds are not well protected Action Plan--- Designate a greenway corridor environmental reserve and protect it from all but limited development. Develop a watershed and well-field management strategy for Debert. Develop sensitively sited greenway trail networks in the reserve to educate people about the cultural and natural history. pg 38 The Greenway Corridor The greenway corridor has been strategically recognized as an important resource in this plan. In addition to preserving ecologically sensitive lowlands (streams, wetlands, watersheds), the greenway corridor designation preserves an open space corridor in perpetuity, including the National Historic Site to the MacElmons Pond Park Reserve south of Highway 104. The greenway corridor also provides an ample buffer between the airport lands and the exit 13 industrial development. In this area, natural trail networks provide opportunities for cultural and natural interpretation. The only structure permitted in this area would be the new Mi’kmawey Debert interpretative centre and related Mi’kmawey development required to support that proposed development. A management plan should be prepared in consultation with (or, more properly, led by) the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq. Half of this area is a National Historic Site. It is also protected as a Nova Scotia Special Place. The greenbelt buffer area shown on Map 3.5 is a conceptual depiction. The actual area and its management structure will be negotiated between the Municipality and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq. Agricultural Land Preserve Diminishing work force, depletion of oil reserves, and related rising energy costs suggest that good agricultural land could become the most valuable land in Nova Scotia during the life of the Debert development. All existing agricultural land should be retained. All vacant land required for other uses, such as land around the runways, should be made available for agricultural use. The model for this form of development is Holland where crops compatible with air traffic are produced in all unused areas The agricultural reserve should be preserved for agricultural land use in perpetuity. Adjacent industrial development should not detract from the quality of the agricultural land in any way. Covenants should be put in place to ensure compatible industrial development with agriculture. Services . The overall area is currently served by three separate sanitary sewer collection systems, leading to three distinct sewage treatment plants, discharging to three different watercourses. It is our understanding that the Department of Environment and Labour has indicated a strong preference for new, high quality treatment to discharge to the Chiginois River only, which will require the integration of all three areas using pump stations. Prior to this happening, some parts of the older gravity sewers need to be either abandoned, or replaced. There has been substantial work done to date on how to best accomplish this, documented in an Infrastructure Assessment Report done by Dillon Consulting for CORDA, in 1998. Current work is underway to begin the process of sewage treatment plant decommissioning and consolidation of collection systems, in the form of a study on the sewage treatment plant discharging to the Debert River which is currently overwhelmed by excess water infiltration and inflow. The 1998 Dillon Consulting plan for proposed infrastructure improvement can apply, almost completely in its entirety, to support the new Village Plan. The only change would be the relocation of the proposed sewage lift station from the intersection of Plains Road and Dakota Road, to a location next to the bridge over the Debert River. This would provide a point to which new gravity sewer could be constructed that would support densification of the proposed core, as well as servicing of existing homes, businesses and institutions. The other elements in the Dillon plan are recommended to be undertaken as part of an overall cleanup and consolidation of the community infrastructure. In particular, the decommissioning of the sewage treatment plants that currently discharge into the Debert River (Provincially owned) and the Galloping Brook (Municipally owned) should be primary goals from both an environmental and operational perspective. Current planning behind the new Provincial infrastructure investment at the treatment plant by Highway 104, that discharges into the Chiginois River, has included a capacity for the existing development in the areas served by both plants proposed for decommissioning, as well as a 15% allowance for extra growth. In addition, the sewage treatment plant has been designed to allow a straightforward expansion to take place, should one be required to support a future successful development scenario in the Village. Finally, the proposed alteration to the 1998 Dillon plan has been considered in a recent study by ABL Environmental Consultants, for the Province, as an option to pursue as part of the work to decommission the sewage treatment plant that discharges to the Debert River, north of the Masstown Road. We would recommend that CORDA pursue the construction of that option with the Province, as opposed to having a new pumping station built that provides no service to the proposed future Village Core. a. Eco Industrial Park The area has been studied by several groups for its suitability for development as an ecoindustrial park. Each of those groups has concluded that this is the perfect site for a showcase industrial development. In management terms, it means that facilities need to be provided for industries within the park to easily exchange information about waste products they are producing. This has already happened in the Debert Industrial Park. A simple exchange between Sobeys and Kohler Windows revealed that Sobeys was paying to dispose of tons of ‘waste’ that Kohler are able to use in their process. It has been suggested that part of the new community centre should include an industrial exchange area where materials and jobs could be posted. This would be the interface between industry and the community for materials, activities, and jobs. We suggest that this facility be co-located with a new community centre to serve as a meeting place for residents and business. Management needs to encourage ‘green’ building design and the use of waste materials and energy. Complementary industries should be located so that they can maximize synergies and minimize waste. The agricultural reserve also shown on the plan, in association with area agriculture, will allow local products to supply Debert. An additional management idea suggested by people interviewed for this plan, is the use of the runway area for some agricultural crop that may be compatible with aviation requirements. Hemp was one crop suggested for this area. ......and thats it. From what Ive read, I dont think Debert planned to be the Dumping Ground for Fracking Waste Water . ---pdf Rgoogle.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDkQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcolchester.ca%2F293-debert-report&ei=ROKPVLXxHozsggSJi4OYCg&usg=AFQjCNEiPkH_H4AMJEwjFLvxg16mi-wzpQ&sig2=Zl4cUiot9SbZawFs0pzLEweport here---
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 07:44:45 +0000
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